


A Question to Undress You

by alloftheorangejuice



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel Angst, Castiel Feels, Castiel is Such a Badass Cutie, F/M, Fluff, Fluff for all, Hex Bags, Kinda, Oneshot, Truth Serum, Tumblr request, Witch Hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 05:23:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8698732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alloftheorangejuice/pseuds/alloftheorangejuice
Summary: You and Castiel go on a hunt to find a witch that’s been causing the town’s headlines to sound like horror film titles-- but although you gank the baddie, you accidentally catch a hex bag in the confusion... one that you soon find out has an effect much like a truth serum. Just how much does the Reader have to hide from the angel who’s been saving her life for years?





	

Castiel’s yell echoed in the dripping sewers.

 

“Y/N, _no!_ ”

 

But you didn’t see what Castiel saw; for he saw the glint in the witch’s eye as she turned her back to you for a single moment, and he saw how deft her hands were as they quickly reached into her pockets, and he watched as she flung a small, wrinkled brown pouch at you from a few yards away.

 

You caught it.

 

It was automatic—a reaction, one the Winchester brothers had succumbed to many times before in the same situation. As soon as you realized what it was, you blanched and dropped it with a resounding _ploop_ into the murky grey-green sludge beneath you.

 

“Hah!,” the raven-haired witch snapped with a smile. But her visage immediately morphed into horror when you didn’t change at all. There was no coughing, no blood. No seizures. No abrupt pain. To your relief, (albeit _panicked_ relief), you felt fine.

 

Before the witch could fish in her pockets for the correct hex bag, a silver blade popped through the front of her chest, sending a jet of reddish slurry into the murk beneath.

 

Castiel stood behind the cultist with a hand on her shoulder, and yanked out his angel blade to let her fall in defeat and death.

 

You stood with a hand to your chest, still replaying what had just happened in a too-vivid reel in your head.

 

“Cas,” you spoke in too-light a whisper.

 

“Y/N!,” Cas started as he tried to hurriedly swish over to you. The bottom of his trench coat skimmed the surface of the liquid as he trudged closer, and the watery sounds resounded in the narrow tunnels. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m—I’m—“

 

“Do you feel any pain? You aren’t bleeding,” he said, voice urgent, as he reached his hands up to hold your head. He tilted your face this way and that, looking in your ears, and feeling the back of your head while you collected yourself.

 

“I think—I think I’m fine,” you said.

 

Castiel stopped his ministrations and focused his eyes on yours, seeming to weigh the validity of your claim. But even in the damp darkness of the sewers, even with the adrenaline from the hunt still pounding in bursts through your blood, you couldn’t help but catch your heart strings on his deep-ocean eyes.

 

The moment seemed to hold in the stagnant air of the underground, and your eyes scraped through every indent of his chapped lips despite the inappropriate timing of your heartbeat.

 

But before you could sort out what it was that was rising in your stomach like thousands of morphing caterpillars, Castiel had dropped his hands from your face and was now elbow deep in the muck.

 

“C-Cas, what are you doing?”

 

After a few more seconds, Castiel pulled the hex bag from the sludge and held it out in a slime-covered palm.

 

“We’re going to find out what that was, to make sure you’re okay,” he finished with a nod.

 

And since you couldn’t find anything to say, you responded with a nod of your own, and let yourself be led out of the sewers by Castiel, an angel of the lord covered in sewage water, with a dirty, yet strong hand guiding you at your back.

 

  * -



 

“I’m… I’m quite unfamiliar with witchcraft,” Castiel lamented, his eyes slanted in frustration at the opened hex bag of items.

 

You were sitting on the edge of one of the hotel beds facing Castiel, who had his forearms to the dining room table as he leaned forward in his chair, scrutinizing the discolored innards.

 

“I don’t know much about it, either, but what does it matter? I’m not affected. Maybe I’m…” you said, shrugging your shoulders, “maybe I’m immune.”

 

“No one is immune to hex bags,” Castiel said to the items before him. “We just have to figure out what spell it was, so we know exactly what effects to expect. Is this—“

 

Castiel picked up a small, organ-like ball that dripped a dark red fluid.

 

“A heart?” I guessed.

 

“A small heart,” Cas confirmed as he put it back down. “And the breast bone of a small rodent, two bronzed pieces of calcite from the region of Northeastern New Jersey, and…” he stopped to sniff the remnant of fabric, “it smells like blood and wine.”

 

You huffed in exasperation.

 

“Don’t spells wear out, anyway? I mean, whatever it is, I’m fine, and it should be gone shortly, right? I mean, spells don’t just last forever. And the witch is ganked.”

 

“You’re right in that they do have a limited time in which they take effect, but it can range from moments to many hours. You’re still feeling alright?”

 

When he prompted you, he turned from the artifacts to look in your direction, immediately twisting his brows in concern.

 

The light-blocking shades of the hotel room were drawn shut, but a sliver of sun cast its glare over the left side of the angel’s face and over his left eye, making his deep-ocean blues turn into fire-ice.

 

“I’m feeling a little light-headed, actually,” you said.

 

The moment the words fell from your mouth, a puzzled look bloomed across your face.

 

_You hadn’t meant to share that._

 

Castiel’s lips pressed together in a miniature frown that made your heart flutter.

 

“You should lie down, Y/N. I already called Sam and Dean. They should be here within the next hour, and we _will_ find out what this hex bag means in regards to your current state.”

 

“That will be nice.”

 

The words slipped from your lips like the slow drain of a bathtub.

 

“Y/N?” Castiel asked, standing up and pacing over towards you.

 

“Castiel?”

 

The edges of your vision felt a little fuzzy. Had they been fuzzy before? Was this some kind of delayed effect from the hex bag?

 

Suddenly, it felt like your insides had bubbled up warm, and the heat of it all relaxed your entire body like the comfort and surrender of a post-Thanksgiving meal. Your shoulders slumped forward, and your heart seemed to beat slow, but steady in your ears. Your thoughts, however, were still quite sharp.

 

“Something… something feels different, Cas,” you said, letting his nickname clip your lips instead of the formal name you’d gotten used to using.

 

Castiel dropped to his knees before you to put a hand to your leg. He seemed on alert, like he was ready to catch you if you fell forward. But although your body felt heavy, your head seemed okay.

 

“I think it’s kicking in now, whatever it is.”

 

“How do you feel? What does it feel like? Is there pain?”

 

 _Pain_ , you thought. _He always wants to know if I’m hurting_.

 

“No, I just feel relaxed.”

 

Castiel nodded into your eyes, analyzing you with his focused gaze. You took pleasure in noticing the way he squinted from the bottom of his eyes, causing small, hair-like crinkles to form where his top and bottom eyelashes met.

 

“And, I also feel warm, and comforted,” you continued without intent.

 

Castiel’s eyebrows flicked up. He reached a hand to your forehead to check your temperature.

 

“You don’t feel out of homeostatic range,” he said, withdrawing his hand from you, to your dismay. “But I’m glad I can give you some kind of comfort. I know this must be unsettling.”

 

“You give me—“ you said, not aware of the line between your thoughts and spoken word, “—more than comfort, Castiel.”

 

The squint, again. Slight this time, but with a barely perceptible head-tilt that made you involuntarily lick your lips.

 

“You give me… you give me this feeling that I don’t know how to explain,” you said.

 

There was a flash of recognition that flashed over Castiel’s face, and the moment you saw it, like a bolt of lightning that goes from tree to tree, you realized what was happening, too.

 

“Oh,” came from your lips.

 

“Do you—do you want to lie down, Y/N?”

 

“No. I want to show you how I feel.”

 

The words poured from your lips like liquid gold. You knew what you were saying, but there was nothing to stop it from coming, to stop the emotions from annunciating themselves word by word.

 

“You are my angel, Castiel,” you said, looking directly into his eyes just inches away. “I want you to know how much you mean to me. You’ve saved me more times than I could ever repay you for, but that’s not even the reason why I love you.”

 

The hand that still lingered on your knee gave a slight squeeze but you barely noticed. You also barely noticed that those sacred _three little words_ had dripped from your mouth, too.

 

“I think the hex bag is affecting your thoughts and speech, Y/N. It’d be best if you lay dow—“

 

“No,” you balked as his hands tried to guide you to lie down, “I don’t want to lie down. I—“

 

You looked at Castiel, the all of him. He seemed frozen, now. Unsure. His eyes were widened just enough for you to know he felt the unease of the situation settling into him. One hand was still on your knee. The other was bent awkwardly between the both of you, angled across his stomach, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it—to reach out or to withdrawal.

 

“Ask me,” you whispered. “Ask me, Castiel.”

 

Castiel shook his head. “Ask you what?”

 

“It’s… it’s a truth thing. I can’t—I can’t lie. Ask me something. Ask me anything.”

 

“I’m not sure if that’s a great idea. If telling the truth is the effect of the hex bag, it may come with other side effects. Leaning into the spell may not be—”

 

A soft hand to his cheek silenced the rest of his thoughts. You felt the sandpapery stubble under the pads of your fingers, and slid a thumb across his cheekbone.

 

You briefly remembered that you used to think truth spells made you tell the truth, but that it felt like it was being ripped from you, like someone was trying to scrape the marrow from the indents and hollows in your adult bones. This didn’t feel like that at all. This felt like telling what was in your heart would save you from the piercing emotions that crushed you in your darkest hour.

 

“Ask me,” you whispered, resisting the urge to turn it into a throaty chant.

 

Castiel’s chest rose and fell in a shallow sigh.

 

“What do you want me to ask?” he said, voice steady, eyes unwavering.

 

“I want you to ask a question that you want to know the answer to.”

 

“I—“

 

“It has to be something…,” you started, putting on hand on the strong fingers that rested on your thigh, “…something you want to know. For yourself.”

 

He glanced down at your hand on his, and when his regard returned to your tired face, you saw a flicker of a different sort of blue blink in his eyes. For a moment, it looked like you could see the twisting galaxies of purples and blues and yellows in the depths of his gaze, hot white stars glistening in awe and wonder.

 

“I feel as if… asking you a question now when you are unable to tailor your words is unfair, that it is like taking—“

 

“You are not taking advantage of me. Castiel, I’m asking you. _Please_.”

 

There were a few moments of silence in the hotel room, one or two more thumb rubs across his cheek, before Castiel stopped tightening his jaw and his lips popped open. The whir of the hotel fridge, the grit of tires pulling onto the road outside, it all muted in the background of your focus.

 

“I—I want to know,” Castiel said, his voice slow and words calculated, “I want to know if you have the same desires I do.”

 

You tilted your head in inquiry, an unconscious mirror of your companions charming habits.

 

“I’m still… recently human, and I want to know,” he continued slowly, “if you wake up to fragments of dreams that you wish were real. And nightmares you wish that will never be. If you have the desire to kiss me like I have the desire to kiss you. I want to know if you feel like you are made of static electricity when we’re in the same room, the kind that makes everything else hard to focus on. I want to know if you…”

 

Castiel stopped here, averting his eyes to swallow and lick his lips before returning his gaze to you.

 

“I want to know if… if you’d ever consider… an angel. If you’d ever… consider having an angel as your— _other_.”

 

Your mouth hung open. Not gaping, not like a black hole, but pursed enough to feel the lax angles of your jaw. But the truth spell was wild within you.

 

“I wish the dreams where you showed me your wings in secret and let me keep a bright white feather were real. And I beg to never have to see your eyes black and full of hate like in my nightmares. I desire to kiss you every time you look at me with your eyes full of everything beyond this world, and the static electricity that jumps off my skin like a constant charge will barely allow me to think of a response to anyone else who’s in the room. I would—“ you halted, tilting your head the other way and wrapping your fingers around Castiel’s, “I have, _considered_. And having an angel as an other would be… _wonderful_.”

 

The wonder in Castiel’s eyes had turned to something like desire, and it looked like he was skipping all of his exhales just to _inhale, inhale, inhale_.

 

“But to have _you_ , Castiel… that… _that_ would be the best blessing an angel could ever give.”

 

It took a moment for the pinkish glow to flush across Castiel’s face, but when it did, he looked like a blushing fiancé, full of honor and gratitude and fresh love. A shy smirk stumbled across his face, but it was quickly replaced with a straight face, then replaced again with a dazzling smile that made all the parts of you that felt like they were slipping away feel pulled back together, pulled back into whole-ness.

 

“You,” Castiel said with his smile fading from his lips, but brightening in his eyes, “…are enough to make all my dreams become the reality we’ve somehow managed to live together.”

 

The release of the truth that seemed to be simmering in your veins and the warmth of Castiel’s words and emotions pulled a blanket of exhaustion over your body. And before you could lean forward to do exactly what you knew both of you had desired for so long, you felt your weight shift backwards and a soft _puft_ of blanket echoed in your ears.

 

“Castiel…” you said, your eyes fluttering closed as your body wavered between waking and slumber.

 

You heard a soft hushing sound and felt your weight being lifted from the bed, only to be put down moments later with your head on a pillow. Your eyes flicked open and then shut, open and shut, and you couldn’t find the strength to keep them open, or speak your thoughts, ( _kiss me, I love you_ ), or roll towards where he was last standing.

 

But then there were some sounds from behind where you were curled up, the swishing sounds of pant legs over a hotel comforter, and then there was a hand creeping up from under your shoulder, and another reaching around to drape across your front.

 

And then, the last thing you remembered before falling asleep to the fragments of dreams of shimmering white wings and the smell of air and cinnamon and smiling blue eyes, was a slip of hair being drawn across your forehead and the warm press of chapped lips to your temple, a soft kiss to the mind that had spoken the ultimate truth, and in turn, received the ultimate reward.

 

_Love is an ultimate._

_The truth will set us, all of us, free._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, guys! This was a request from a wonderful Tumblrite, so if you have a request for me, just send me one on the Tumblr! (My handle there is 10strawberryjam.) 
> 
> Comments and kudos are the best kinds of rewards if you've truly enjoyed it! 
> 
> You are who I write for. <3


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